Coincident demand is the energy demand required by a given customer or class of customers during a particular time period. Coincident peak demand is the energy demand by that group during periods of peak system demand. Loosely speaking, it refers to demand among a group of customers that coincides with total demand on the system at that time. Residential demand at a time of peak industrial demand can be referred to as coincident peak demand, as can a particular plant's demand at a time of peak demand across the whole system.

A customer's coincident peak demand is usually calculated from meter readings taken at the time when the customer's demand is likely to be highest. Their noncoincident peak demand would be calculated using several readings taken at different times to determine what their actual peak demand periods may be. A more sophisticated type of meter is required to calculate noncoincident demand, but it doesn't necessarily produce a better result for the utility or the customer. An energy provider may care more about demand at a given time when total customer demand is highest than they care about the peak demand of a given customer during other times.

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